In high stress and oftentimes hazardous work environments-including firefighting, search & rescue, oil and gas, surgery, fighter pilots, mining, special ops, and the like, one false step has critical consequences, but so do too many slow steps. Go too fast and something life-threatening may be missed; go too slow and the results could be doubly devastating. The challenges of effectively and safely performing critical work in harsh and obscured environments have always existed. These challenges combine the physical strain imposed by hazardous terrain with the mental distress placed upon the individual operating within them. Critical human performance in high-stress environments is limited by how rapidly and effectively the brain can process impoverished or jumbled sensory inputs. Until now technology has been leveraged primarily to increase the amount of information provided to the senses, but not designed to specifically enhance the brain's existing (and unmatched) cognitive ability to make sense of that information.
For example, several emergency response systems are centered on the use of thermal imaging cameras (TICs) and augmented reality (AR) optics to provide a hands-free thermal display to the user. Current systems are typically carried by a crewmembers who must iteratively scan, mentally process and communicate what they perceive. Current handheld and hands-free TICs lack the computational resources and software required to unobtrusively offer advanced image processing and data visualization features to all crewmembers in real-time. This capability and time gap in the visual understanding of hazardous environments has been identified as a significant causative factor in responder line of duty deaths. Such systems cause crewmembers, such as first responders, to operate in a Stop, Look, Process and Remember paradigm, which is cumbersome and time consuming.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and systems for integrating components such as a TIC and AR optics, with a government certified or compliant face mask, such as a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), such that the SCBA retains its certification after the integration.